a. Technical field
This invention relates to an extruded elongate pasta (for example, spaghetti, noodle, Japanese noodle or so-called "Udon") noodle having one or more grooves in the surface of the pasta strand. The invention also relates to a die structure with at least one die hole adapted for extruding such elongate pasta and an extruder having a number of such die holes.
b. Description of the Prior art
Various kinds of elongate pastas are currently on the market, such as fresh elongate pastas, boiled elongate pastas, steamed elongate pastas, dry elongate pastas and instant elongate pastas. When eating the elongate pastas, it is necessary for a consumer to cook them for a long period of time. For example, it is necessary to boil spaghetti through hot water to prepare the spaghetti for eating, and it generally takes more than ten minutes to uniformly and sufficiently boil the spaghetti from the surface to the core. Generally, elongate pastas which can be cooked for eating as quickly as possible are favored by most people. To this end, various studies have been heretofore undertaken for the purpose of shortening the cooking time. For example, widening the surface of the elongate pasta or increasing the water penetration to the core of the elongate pasta. For instance, ideas such as (1) making the elongate pasta porous, (2) thinning the strand of the pasta, (3) forming a hole along the axis of the elongate pasta, and (4) adding starch to the raw material of the noodle have been tried. However, the elongate pastas prepared by these methods have drawbacks such as poor quality in texture and taste and generally require a lot of labor for production.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 175459/83 proposes a cutout formed from the surface to the interior of elongate pasta. When the cross sectional area of the cutout is excessively small, the cooking time is not shortened, while when the cross sectional area of the cutout is excessively large, the cutout is not closed by boiling, and therefore the cooked elongate pasta has the disadvantage that shape of it is different from that of the ordinary elongate pasta. This leads to an undesirable texture.